Awake
by Xandra Saint
Summary: Bella's parents decide to move back to Forks, for reasons that they don't fully explain. Bella and her sister Rosalie, try to re-adjust to life in a small town. Even as they try to cope with amazing strangers, and bizarre events with no answers. Nothing can prepare them for the truth behind the town's secrets. AU, Non-canon relationships, set as a new version of Twilight


**Authors Note**: This story will be split up into a few parts. Part 1 will be from Bella's point of view. This is set an alternate universe. There are significant changes to characters and relationships from the original Twilight books. There are also a few notable changes to powers, mostly on the werewolf side of things. The M rating is for infrequent course language, action oriented violence, and some sexiness.

**Copyright Stuff**: Stephenie Meyer owns _Twilight_, and all characters, events, and unique locations contained within those books. That content is being within this story without permission, but not with any intention of violating or infringing on that Copyrighted protection. I have some original characters in this story, but since they are being used publicly, and in combination with previously Copyrighted material I claim no special rights to them.

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**Prelude - Parting Ways**

Helena's lips tasted a little funny, they were slightly salty instead of sweet. Maybe she wasn't using her infamous lip balm. Or maybe she knew I was moving away, and it was her anger I was tasting. Not that it mattered, just being with her was enough for right now. As we continued to kiss I started to dwell on stuff. It was an unfortunate truth that we would soon be apart. But it was only for a little while, since we had already planned to go to the same college. Just a year and a half. Eighteen short months, and then we could really be together.

For a bunch of reasons, which felt more like elaborate excuses as time went on, we'd held off getting fully intimate. The timing wasn't right, or we didn't have enough privacy, and then we sorta of mutually decided that we should wait until college. Of course we both wanted to do more, at times I ached to touch her. But we both thought it wouldn't be wise while we were living at home. Because there was that constant fear of discovery, since neither of us were _out_ yet.

She was terrified of her parents finding out. She thought they would have a cow, maybe literally. My mom and dad were pretty liberal about stuff, yet even I got nervous butterflies just thinking about telling them. So when the move came up, and I was told rather than included in the decision, I found that I had another huge secret, and I wasn't sure I how to tell her. I hoped Helena could take it, since I knew how much I meant to her. But I also knew it wouldn't be easy on either of us.

Then there was the hard question, should we break up? A year and a half wasn't forever, but it was enough time to cause loneliness. Could I really ask her to wait for me? And what if I met someone in Forks? Not that I thought that was even a remote possibility, but it was something to consider nonetheless. Then without warning she parted from my embrace abruptly, which thankfully ended my conflicted inner turmoil.

"Bella? Where are you?" She asked a little concerned.

"Thinking about. Crap, I have something to tell you Lena." I responded grumpily.

"You're moving back to Forks." She looked down as she spoke, obviously upset.

"Yeah, I'm so sorry I just didn't know how to tell you. I don't want to go, but I don't have a choice. Wait how did you find out?" I hoped she could hear how badly I felt from my voice, I needed her to know that I didn't want to leave her.

"I overheard your sister talking to a friend about it, and I do understand that this isn't your choice. So, should we?" She gave me a serious look, and I closed my eyes in pain.

"Breaking up might be the best thing." I said in a whisper, and then tentatively met her eyes again for her reaction.

"What? No, I meant. Oh god." Her eyes widened, and panic filled her voice. Then she got up and backed away from me. I stared at her for a few moments, baffled by her reaction. I wanted to go to her and hold her while she cried uncontrollably, but I couldn't seem to move. Then it dawned on me what she meant, and I felt like a cruel idiot.

"Lena, I. I didn't mean I want to break up." My voice cracked a couple of times, and I couldn't stop my own tears from beginning to fall.

"Yes you did, or you wouldn't have said it. I gotta go, I can't be here right now." She quickly snatched up her book bag and was halfway to the door by the time I started to move. And then it was too late. She was out of the house, and running as fast as her athletic legs could take her. I frowned, because there was no way I could catch up. Since she was the track star, and I was the klutz.

I trudged back into the house, feeling absolutely rotten. I'd broken her heart, and my own as well, because I was being selfish. Or maybe I wasn't being selfish enough. I should've wanted her to wait for me, but I couldn't bring myself to ask that of her. I struggled with that dilemma for over an hour. An hour I could've used to find her, talk her down, and try to get an apology through to her.

Instead I sat and sulked. Rotating different scenarios of what could've happened through my tortured thoughts. We could've been together in that very moment, finally exploring each other the way we'd always wanted to. We could've been talking about college, and the pleasures of reuniting. We could've been holding each other, using what little time we had left to be together. Hell, any of those would've been preferable to what I did.

Eventually dad came home, Rosalie got back from Tonya's house, and the rush to get dinner ready began. I started getting the meat prepped, and got Rose and dad to slice up some veggies while we all talked about our day. Over the years I'd developed a real flare for cooking, and had basically taken over the task on most nights. But mom insisted on doing it on weekends. I'd taken to watch dogging her while she was in the kitchen, since her tendency to leave things unattended was legendary. Before I had taken over, we would end up ordering out, or going to a restaurant more often than not. At least I got dinner was on the table just as mom got home. As we sat and ate, I started to feel a strange urge to tell them the truth about Helena and me.

"Mom, dad, Rose. I want to tell you something important." They all stopped in mid bite, and then lowered their utensils. Then dad finished chewing and wiped his mouth before responding.

"Of course Bells, what's on your mind?" He gave me a reassuring smile, and I could see some cautious curiosity behind his eyes. Mom's expression matched his, and then she reached out and took my empty right hand.

"I... told Helena that we're moving." Internally I kicked myself for chickening out, so I took a deep breath and bit my lower lip to brace myself for what I was going to say next. "It was hard because I accidentally." I stopped, fear freezing my brain in mid-sentence.

"What is it Bella? Did she not take the news well?" Mom said sympathetically, while she squeezed my hand a little. The reassurance gave me just enough courage to keep going.

"No, she didn't. Because I broke up with her." I looked down, terrified to see their reactions. But then mom squeezed my hand a little, and looked up to see nothing on their faces but concern and sympathy. My head began to spin, totally confused. Did they not understand what I meant?

"Aww sweetie, long distance relationships are hard. It was probably for the best." Mom responded, confusing me even more.

"You knew we were, _together_?" I felt pale, and I swallowed once to try and calm myself.

"Totally, you guys were about as subtle as, um, the Germans invading Poland." I gave my little sister a dirty glance, but she just stared at me with her arms folded and her mouth set in a 'gotcha' grin, to which I rolled my eyes. Sometimes it felt like more than a year separated us. It didn't help that she had been going through a rough patch at school ever since we learned of our impending move.

"Rose, that's not. Nevermind." He gave my sister an exasperated frown, and then turned to me. "Bella, we didn't know. Well not at first, but there were signs. Your mom and I thought it would be better to wait for you to tell us. But we love you, and only want you to be happy." I didn't quite hear Dad at first. Mostly because I wasn't sure if I was dreaming. Then my heart began to beat quickly, and my eyes filled up with tears of such joy that I couldn't possibly hold them in. I tackle hugged mom, and a moment later when dad's arms wrapped around us, I let go and just let myself cry into mom's shoulder. After another minute, Rose came up from behind me wrapped her arms around us all as best she could, and then pressed her face into my back. It made me smile, because although we fought constantly, I knew she loved me.

Helena was shocked when I finally cornered her at school the next day, and told her about their reactions. It was a relief that she had calmed down enough that we were able to talk about what I meant, and she agreed that a long distance thing wouldn't be the best idea. But neither of us were going to actively look for anyone else. It patched us up enough that we were able to be together for the final two weeks of school.

That final day before the move, mom and dad had to do a ton of errands. And instead of insisting that I go with them, they let me spend some time alone with Helena. Rose even went without giving them a hard time. The unspoken permission was unexpected, but made me feel loved. Lena was clearly nervous when she arrived. It took us almost an hour to get comfortable enough to start kissing, but soon it got really heated. Then she pulled away, leaving me breathless and confused.

"Are you sure? We do this and we can never go back." I couldn't read her expression, I had no idea what she wanted. It made me hesitate before responding, which might've been worse than the wrong answer. She sat back looking frustrated, as I tried to figure out what I wanted. I had thought I wanted her, but faced with the question I couldn't make up my mind. I felt foolish and indecisive, and I hated feeling like that. Then I realized why I was hesitating, I needed to know that she needed me. It was all that was holding back my heart from committing to her.

"Do you love me?" I asked, knowing that her answer would probably dictate a good chunk of my future. If she did, I would wait for her without hesitation. If she didn't, our paths might separate forever.

"Yes, I love you." I smiled and was about to pull her back to me when she continued, "but I don't think I'm in love with you." I sat back against my headboard, and looked up at the ceiling trying to see through it to the mid-day sky.

"I see." I was devastated, but not humiliated. Some part of me must've known she didn't feel that way. It must've been why I was holding back my own emotions. "I think you should go." I said after a minute. I caught her sorrowful nod out of the corner of my eye. Then she got up, fixed her clothes, and then closed the short distance to my room door. She lingered for a moment, and I could see her trying to figure out if she should say anything else. So I spoke up first. "Goodbye Helena, I hope you have a happy life." A solitary tear rolled down her left cheek, and then she was gone. I listened as she ran down the stairs. When the front door finally slammed shut, I smiled, even though I didn't know why.

The next day we got in the car to drive across the country. I had spent the first seven years of my life in Forks, and I had only a few really good memories from there. But mostly I remembered the green and gray, and the endless rain. It made those fragmented snippets of my past feel darker than my generally sunny present. So as we drove towards our new future, I felt like we were heading into a frighteningly dark, and chaotic storm.


End file.
